Many garden and balcony owners appreciate the petunia because of its many different colored flowering varieties and the extremely long flowering period from spring to the first frost. However, attention should be paid to a certain toxicity of the green parts of the plant.
Petunias are slightly poisonous
Petunias as a risk to humans
Basically, the green parts of the petunia should not be a big temptation for consumption by adults and children, as they taste awful on the one hand and on the other hand terribly scratch the throat due to the sticky hairs with trichomes. However, these nightshade plants also contain a certain amount of the toxic solanine, although the level is lower than that of potato plants. Even if touching the plants does not trigger any symptoms of poisoning, children should be made aware of the nausea-triggering effect of consumption at low doses. Unlike nasturtiums or other edible garden plants, petunias are not edible.
Beware of pets
As a rule, pets such as cats automatically shy away from the smell of petunias. Indoor cats and rabbits with little access to fresh greens can still be tempted to nibble on the petunias on the balcony. In the worst case, this can lead to diarrhea and symptoms of poisoning. If there is a realistic risk of this, you can switch to non-toxic alternatives for balcony planting:
- catnip
- deadnettle
- field thyme
- daisy
tips
Like many other attractive flowering plants in the garden and on the balcony, petunias are not suitable for consumption. Nevertheless, given the amount of solanine it contains, you should not panic. With small children in the household, it is sometimes a good idea to get them used to being very careful when dealing with plants that are unfamiliar to them, so that there is no danger from the large number of potentially dangerous plants in and around the house.